Not upheld: Account closure without notice complaint against Amazon Payments UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

H, a seller on Amazon, complained that APUK wrongly withheld funds in its seller account from July 2025 after AEU requested evidence of product authenticity and supply chain documentation that H failed to provide. H argued that APUK, as a regulated payment services provider, should have exercised independent judgment rather than simply following AEU's directive. The ombudsman found that APUK's actions were permitted under section 2.7 of the Selling on Amazon User Agreement, which grants broad discretion to restrict account access when disputes exist involving the account or connected transactions. The ombudsman concluded that APUK acted fairly and reasonably in withholding funds given the unresolved dispute between H and AEU, and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

APUK's provision of payment services is subject to the Selling on Amazon User Agreement, which grants APUK broad discretion under section 2.7 to restrict transactions when disputes exist involving the seller's account or transactions connected with it. Given the unresolved dispute between H and AEU concerning the authenticity of items sold by H, APUK was entitled to withhold funds in line with the agreement's provisions. APUK acted fairly and reasonably in restricting access to funds based on information received from AEU, and the ombudsman could not investigate AEU's actions as they fall outside FOS jurisdiction.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website